‘Sanctuary cities’ bill passes final hurdle

By Bobby Cervantes, Austin Bureau

May 3, 2017Updated: May 3, 2017 11:00pm

Photo: Photos By Tom Reel / San Antonio Express-News

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State Sen. José Rodriguez, D-El Paso, questions Sen. Charles Perry, author of the ban on “sanctuary cities,” during the Senate’s debate on accepting changes made by the House. The bill passed on a 20-11 party line vote. less

State Sen. José Rodriguez, D-El Paso, questions Sen. Charles Perry, author of the ban on “sanctuary cities,” during the Senate’s debate on accepting changes made by the House. The bill passed on a 20-11 ... more

Photo: Photos By Tom Reel / San Antonio Express-News

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Perry, R-Lubbock, defended his bill from critics who said the ban would lead to racial profiling.

Perry, R-Lubbock, defended his bill from critics who said the ban would lead to racial profiling.

Photo: Tom Reel / San Antonio Express-News

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Senator John Whitmire, D-Houston, has introduced legislation that will require judges to assess risk and give them more leeway in releasing low-income defendants on their own recognizance.

Senator John Whitmire, D-Houston, has introduced legislation that will require judges to assess risk and give them more leeway in releasing low-income defendants on their own recognizance.

Photo: Tom Reel /San Antonio Express-News

‘Sanctuary cities’ bill passes final hurdle

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AUSTIN — A ban on so-called sanctuary cities that would grant law enforcement new powers cleared its final legislative hurdle Wednesday after the Senate voted to agree with changes the House made.

The proposal, long sought by many Republican state lawmakers, now goes to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature.

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In a 20-11 party line vote, the Senate’s Republican majority effectively handed Abbott his most notable political victory yet, overcoming months of Democratic opposition to Senate Bill 4, which would allow police officers to question a person’s immigration status if they have been detained with reasonable suspicion. Sheriffs and police chiefs could face jail time if they refuse to cooperate with federal authorities.

The legislation also would prohibit local jurisdictions from passing or enforcing ordinances that prohibit police officers from inquiring about a detained person’s immigration status. It also would require police to honor all federal requests to detain people suspected of being in the country illegally until immigration authorities can investigate the person’s status.

After nearly three hours of debate Wednesday, senators accepted the House version that added several areas where SB 4 would not apply, including government mental health care facilities and hospitals. Among other changes, it also would exclude officers who are contracted by religious organizations and schools, though it will apply to police departments on college campuses.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who for years championed the measure, cheered the bill’s passage late Wednesday.

“This legislation will eliminate a substantial incentive for illegal immigration and help make Texas communities safer,” Patrick said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Democrats and progressive groups decried the bill as a “show-me-your-papers” measure and, predicting it will be found unconstitutional, promised to file an immediate court challenge to SB 4 after Abbott signs the measure.

“The bill will not immediately take effect because of strong opposition by Democrats in both the Senate and the House,” said Democratic Sen. Sylvia Garcia of Houston, hinting at a court battle.

However, Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office has assured Republican legislators that the bill can withstand such a lawsuit.

“We will let the court systems figure this out,” said GOP Sen. Charles Perry of Lubbock, the bill’s author.

John Michael Torres, a spokesman for La Union Del Pueblo Entero, a community organization that works with immigrant communities in the Rio Grande Valley, also took aim at the bill’s passage.

“We will challenge SB 4 in the courts and the streets. Our legal partners are already looking at what legal strategies can be taken, while grass-roots organizations are challenging local officials to defy the unconstitutional law,” Torres said.

“Businesses throughout the nation will also have a role to play,” Torres added. “By sending Texas’ ‘show-me-your-papers’ bill to the governor’s desk, the Texas Legislature is ensuring that all of the shame and economic boycotts previously directed at Arizona because of SB 1070 will now be directed at our state.”

The term “sanctuary cities” has no legal meaning but has been used to describe jurisdictions whose elected officials restrict, in any way, their police force’s cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The state’s Republican leaders, including Abbott, have said the bill is necessary to stop some Texas sheriffs and police chiefs, including Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez, from refusing to honor all voluntary requests from ICE to detain a person who is in the country illegally until federal authorities can investigate their case.

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus and Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo have been harsh critics of the proposal. Acevedo spoke out strongly against the bill last week, calling it a dangerous move by lawmakers that could have “negative consequences” because it would redirect limited police resources from crime-fighting efforts to an initiative that does not improve public safety.

Calling it a “status quo bill,” Perry said during the debate that his SB 4 does not force a police officer to inquire about a person’s immigration status, nor does it allow an officer to stop someone merely to ask about their status. He defended the bill from critics who said it will lead to racial profiling and will turn Texas police officers into federal immigration authorities.

“Nowhere in the bill as it came back from the House does it instruct officers to demand papers,” Perry said. “Nowhere in the bill does it allow an officer to enforce federal immigration law. Officers still do not have the authority to arrest someone merely for being unlawfully present (in the country), which is a federal power.”

For months, outnumbered Democrats in both chambers tried to add a host of exemptions to the bill, including one to shield children from inquires about their immigration status and another to exclude college police departments. Other proposals would have created exceptions for homeless shelters and domestic violence centers, but Republicans rejected those amendments.

The bill now heads to Abbott, the first-term Republican governor who deemed a sanctuary cities prohibition an emergency item for lawmakers this session. The designation, which Abbott made at the start of the legislative session, allowed them to begin work on SB 4 at an expedited pace.